So, where are we going to finish in ‘22?

[The Silverdale Phantom]

We are long overdue for a bit of psycho boof threat.

Hastings is one of the toughest players in the game.

If ever you want a player to come back from esl to perform in the nrl, I think he’d be one of the most likely.

All that said:

We can only hope Brooks stares down the death of his career. Ralph says he’s having a white hot lend of us on that kind of money. We are being taken to the cleaners. Hates all things Brooks.

 

[Disillusioned Tiger]

I’m thinking/hoping top 8, I think Hastings could be our answer.

Forwards look OK, though the backs look a bit light, hope Gildart can deliver?

Seriously? Get rid of the beer goggles. If we improve from last year it will be a miracle! Are Peach and Gildart that good? Who do you think will finish beneath us? I know the season hasn’t started yet but surely no one really expects us to be north of ninth?

 

[Disillusioned Tiger]

I start each season with optimistic, high expectations, so don't bring me down, lads. All our new signings & the young lads coming through! Top 8 this year!

Which ones exactly?

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

Which ones exactly?

Let’s not spoil the moment by getting too technical my son.

 

[BrotherJim05]

9th would be epic for us this year. It would prove that we are ready to crack top 8 in 2023

 

[super_coach]

15th would be a good effort given our bog average roster and carry over injuries from last season. Most of our really good juniors are one or two seasons away from a NRL start and our two quality signings are still a year away.

Covid could be the big factor that levels out the comp. Getting 17 players free of COVID each week is going to be a challenge for all clubs. Than again keeping the comp going might be even a bigger challenge, so we might dodge the spoon once again by default.

 

[WA Tiger]

NSW- 92 fkn thousand (cases today) ..I think your right

 

[BrotherJim05]

I don't think COVID will be an issue this year. Maybe for the first 4-5 rounds but once it's in full swing everyone will either have natural immunity or the booster. A lot of experts believe the global pandemic will be over by mid year and it will be as concerning as the flu. Keep in mind that elderly and vulnerable people get a flu jab every year and it's not out of the ordinary for an NRL player to sit out a game because they have a virus.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

I don't think COVID will be an issue this year. Maybe for the first 4-5 rounds but once it's in full swing everyone will either have natural immunity or the booster. A lot of experts believe the global pandemic will be over by mid year and it will be as concerning as the flu. Keep in mind that elderly and vulnerable people get a flu jab every year and it's not out of the ordinary for an NRL player to sit out a game because they have a virus.

Every year they say the pandemic will finish up and then just as he’s walking off, high five to a replacement virus running on.

And just like the Tigers, the replacement virus is worse than the bastard he replaced.

I hope you’re right though.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

NSW- 92 fkn thousand (cases today) ..I think your right

I’m surprised it’s that low.

You can almost actually drive around Sydney at the moment and be hopeful of getting somewhere on time.

Like the Olympic lanes back in 2000. Dedicated traffic lanes for officials, athletes, vip etc and yours truly.

It was very efficient, I miss them.

 

[stryker]

NSW- 92 fkn thousand (cases today) ..I think your right

Fkn shithole

 

[gordsy]

I feel sorry for some of these blokes, stuck indoors all days not able to go out and live your life.
They must look back to the world we had a few years ago with envy..
I hope we get a full season of all comps playing too.

 

[madunit]

12th.

The problem is no matter how simple Madge makes the gameplan or the structure, the players simply do not follow it. They aren't rebelling, they just lack someone who understands the process Madge expects and is then able to keep everyone to that plan on the field - usually the task of your halfback.

Every win the club has had in the last few years has been a fluke. The players don't know what they did to get the win. That's why we struggled to put 2 wins together.

As for Brooks, he has all the skills. His running game is one of the better ones in the NRL for halfbacks, his kicking game is acceptable enough. His passing game is good enough.

His decision making though and his inability to create combinations with other players is the problem area.

Hastings at 7 and Brooks at 6 might actually be the way around those 2 big issues. We can park Brooks on the left side of the field, Doueihi on the right (at centre) when he returns and leave Hastings to direct the team. Brooks then has to form combinations with just 3 players essentially (left centre, back rower and the halfback).

We need to have bodies in motion on different angles too, so as to slow the slide in the opposition defence. That's been the biggest pain in the arse for a few years now.

 

[madunit]

Not quite on topic, but . . . .
I was looking on nrl.com's "1-100. Numbers that matter"
There is nothing negative about our club. In fact, the only real mention of WT is for the most supporting runs.
So that is a league journo has 100 opportunities to put the boot into WT, yet doesn't.
Parra, on the other hand, takes out the famed #35 spot.
Let's not upset our little mate rhyno by going into too much detail about what 35 represents.

The problem with that stat is that the bulk of those support runs are coming out of our own half and f**k all of them are in the attacking zone.

Hence why we can get out of trouble well, but we struggle to score enough points against average or better defences.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

12th.

The problem is no matter how simple Madge makes the gameplan or the structure, the players simply do not follow it. They aren't rebelling, they just lack someone who understands the process Madge expects and is then able to keep everyone to that plan on the field - usually the task of your halfback.

Every win the club has had in the last few years has been a fluke. The players don't know what they did to get the win. That's why we struggled to put 2 wins together.

As for Brooks, he has all the skills. His running game is one of the better ones in the NRL for halfbacks, his kicking game is acceptable enough. His passing game is good enough.

His decision making though and his inability to create combinations with other players is the problem area.

Hastings at 7 and Brooks at 6 might actually be the way around those 2 big issues. We can park Brooks on the left side of the field, Doueihi on the right (at centre) when he returns and leave Hastings to direct the team. Brooks then has to form combinations with just 3 players essentially (left centre, back rower and the halfback).

We need to have bodies in motion on different angles too, so as to slow the slide in the opposition defence. That's been the biggest pain in the arse for a few years now.

Good post but I disagree with some points.

A. We have actually won a couple of games on sheer merit instead of luck. We have a feint pulse.

B. There has been massive internal player unrest at the Tigers and that’s been properly sourced. That doesn’t mean to say it still exists.

Points I agree with wholeheartedly:

Playing Adam ASAP in the role you envisage.

Bodies in motion and disguising plays. No more telegraphing ball recipient 5 minutes in advance. Defending against us has been too easy.

Our forwards rarely get over the other pack. Even where we hold them to account, we look ten times better and then sadly, the anarchy of our confused and technically incompetent backline often rears it’s ugly head.

Cheers.

 

[Ned Kelly]

I am convinced the majority of the games we won or made a brief comeback in was because the opposition was over confident and not playing to their best ability.
Last year even bog average teams were light years ahead of us.
I'm tipping 16th for us. Bottom 4 for sure.

 

[stryker]

It should be remembered that season 2021 was friggen aweful all round. Just about every weekend some merkins got done by 40+.
Winning a couple of shithouse games against pathetic opposition wasn’t really filling the old confidence meter up.

 

[The Silverdale Phantom]

It’s a very difficult question with lot of variables to consider. Injuries, new coaching and training structures, drills, key changes in opponents line ups, new rules, on and on.

Madge is right not to raise expectations, because he did this last year prematurely and the growth and change he was busy sprouting and promising about town to anyone who would listen, died a horrific, slow and ugly death.

So he just won’t be doing that again.

I think this bottled hope is another part of his core coaching practice, he’s just had to abandon.

It’s interesting watching him transform. Things had to change, he’s on the right track.

Hook didn't promise anything with SGI but did pretty well until bbq gate.

We have very ambitious coaching assistants, we have less emphasis on grunge fitness work and physical torture. The camp is looking very relaxed. Hastings is sub-marquee, no question there.

Tim is back full time and directing traffic. No complaints from anyone about his work to date, except perhaps the inexplicable Hartigan sacking.

I'm going to take a big risk and say if we continue to develop off the field, we could scrape close to a finals berth with a very unfancied and unfashionable transition squad dreaming of 2023 and beyond. But its not all transition as we have kept players we might have released to give youngsters a go or second chancers.

Madge was in touch with Gus every week or so, that hasn't seemed to help. Lost a whopping 4 games by a converted try or less last year....We seem a lot worse lol.

 

[BrotherJim05]

I'll be thrilled with 9th but realistically we will finish bottom 4. Broncos and Bulldogs will both improve this year and have better players than we do. Knights will go backwards and I don't see Cowboys, Dragons or Warriors improving much. Every other team will flog us by margins of "fk this not gonna bother finish watching". To even dream of top 8 is laughable.

2023 is a completely different kettle of fish. Papi and Koro will be enormous for us and players like Laurie and Stefano will be coming into their own. I reckon we will see a couple more signings for 2023 by year's end...so overall, I just want to see improvement from the players that will be sticking around for 2023.

 

[WA Tiger]

At least we will see how bad Madge has been, when he was left to his own devices. He having made the sum of it’s parts, a fraction of what we will see this year. Top 8?Fk yea!